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Firecracker plant is a small plant that can have an explosive impact in your garden, attracting hummingbirds and butterflies.
Photo taking with my new EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Canon telephoto zoom lens. NO PHOTOSHOP.
The flame skimmer or firecracker skimmer (Libellula saturata) is a common dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to western North America.
Male flame skimmers are known for their entirely red or dark orange body, this includes eyes, legs, and even wing veins. Females are usually a medium or darker brown with some thin, yellow markings. This particular type of skimmer varies in size but is generally measured somewhere between two and three inches long. These naiads are known for being rather large and chubby-looking due to their rounded abdomen. They are covered with hair but, unlike most young dragonflies, they lack hooks or spines.
Los Angeles. California.
This weeping subshrub is native to Mexico and Guatemala.
The Latin specific epithet equisetiformis implies the plant has a form "like/similar to Equisetum"—i.e., 'horsetail', 'horsetail rush/fern'—a genus which Russelia is only distantly related to (and which is not a true fern genera).
在早晨，炮竹紅用他最耀眼的紅色，炸了整個山區。
In the morning, the Firecracker plant used its most dazzling red color to blow up the entire mountain.
www.cameralenscompare.com/photoAwardsCounterDetails.aspx?...
Sternwinde oder Spanische Flagge, Ipomoea lobata
Time for Daylilies (Hemerocallis) to start exploding with blooms in the garden. In my climate, they always start blooming around the 4th of July. Like firecrackers without the noise, they get your attention and light up the garden.
"Against a dark sky, all flowers look like fireworks."
~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
"Nature always wears the colors of the spirit."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Katy Perry!! -' Firework'
I wonder how it got its name 🤔 😂
Yellow Loosestrife (Fireflies or Firecracker) in my garden.
Planted to brighten up a shaded spot in the garden.
Often confused with the Cardinal Meadowhawk (which should appear directly below this image), one only has to see them together to see the difference. Look for yellow on the abdomen of the Firecracker). The Flame Skimmer adult male is also known as the California Firecracker at least to some in California. Most guides tell that they are native to the southwest of the U.S., but it is the second most abundant dragonfly that I've found in northern California, so there!
An immature flame skimmer (nymph) feeds mainly on aquatic insects. Its diet consists of mosquito larvae, aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, freshwater shrimp, small fish, and tadpoles. The nymphs, which live in the mud at the bottom of warm streams or ponds, catch their prey by waiting patiently for it to pass by. Adult skimmers usually feed on moths, flies, ants, or any other soft-bodied insect while waiting perched on a small rock or twig or while flying through the air.
As I've stated many times - but it does bear repeating - dragonflies in general are the greatest predator of mosquitoes as nymphs and adults and should be protected at all costs. Think about malaria: the dragonfly doesn't care about the species of mosquito all of which can carry at least eight deadly diseases, and it knows no Latin. Dinner is dinner, period.
The Flame Skimmer is more orange than red although the one I have posted tonight is almost as red as the Cardinal Meadowhawk. Much depends of course on lighting, lens, exposure etc. The one whose image is posted was perched on a stick slightly above my eyes and I could see the head and sometimes just the eyes scanning for prey. It would take off, catch something (try identifying a gnat at 30 feet), eat while flying, and return to the same perch ... sometimes. That behavior is why I have been successful with dragons. I have another method for damsels.
One note: I and others have made the statement that dragonflies are cannibalistic. It is true, but only as a nymph, and they are not picky about which nymphs. They have an underslung jaw that shoots out half a body length and captures its prey. Some hunt in the open, others while just under the mud, and some actively seek prey. Lest you think that it's an easy life, I'll get on to what eats dragonflies later this week. I have a shot of a Leopard Frog just missing, and the frog is one of many predators.
The Firecracker Skimmer also known as the Flame Skimmer (Libellula saturata) is a common dragonfly native to western North America. Or (next sentence in my dragonfly book): "Due to its choice habitat of warm ponds, streams, flame skimmers are found mainly in the southwestern part of the United States." Well, which is it?
They also make their homes in public gardens or backyards. Yes, if the back yard has a pond with some pond algae or vegetation.
Is this why it's the most common larger dragonfly in northern California? Oh, well...
Male Firecracker Skimmers are known for their entirely red or dark orange body, this includes eyes, legs, and even wing veins. Females are usually a medium or darker brown with some thin, yellow markings. This particular type of skimmer varies in size but is generally measured somewhere between two and three inches long. "They are covered with hair but, unlike most young dragonflies, they lack hooks or spines." I think they also lack curls, hair gel, and curlers.
The Neon Skimmer which you saw earlier this week (on horsetail grass) is a dragonfly of the skimmer family. (Really!) It can be found near ponds, lakes and slow moving streams in the southwest United States. That's why we have them at times in the summer in the Central Valley of California.
The preceding was taken from three dragonfly guide books and my own fertile imagination. I've complained about how difficult it is to ID them, but to make matters worse, using just these three books, I don't even know where they live ... except in the ponds near my home. They have two common names, maybe three. They live in the southwest, the northwest, California, and southern western provinces of Canada but never simultaneously because those three areas were individually mentioned in individual books. California was thrown in because I see them right here.
One of the next Dragonflies I'll discuss has the longest migration of any in the world. The reason why I mention that here is as a reminder as to what gets posted later next week.
My submission for 52frames week 52: Break the rules. In this case, the visual weight is tilted towards the left, making the photograph imbalanced.
The flame skimmer or firecracker skimmer (Libellula saturata) is a common dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to western North America.
Male flame skimmers are known for their entirely red or dark orange body, this includes eyes, legs, and even wing veins. Females are usually a medium or darker brown with some thin, yellow markings. This particular type of skimmer varies in size but is generally measured somewhere between two and three inches long. These naiads are known for being rather large and chubby-looking due to their rounded abdomen. They are covered with hair but, unlike most young dragonflies, they lack hooks or spines.
Los Angeles. California.
I got tagged by Carol.....thanks : )
Here are 10 things about me:
1. I love photography and wish I could take pictures all day long.
2. I was born in Brooklyn, NY but grew up in south Florida.
3. I have 2 beautiful daughters, a wonderful husband and a new puppy.
4. I love to travel.
5. When I was younger I traveled through Europe on the back of a Norton motorcycle. I had a blast.
6. I love the cold weather, snow and fall when the leaves are changing colors.
7. I currently live in Jacksonville, Fl and haven't seen snow in four years (and really miss it).
8. I love gardening.
9. I love to watch medical shows
10. I'm glad that I've met such nice people on flickr and always look forward to viewing their beautiful pictures and am sorry that lately I've been tied up with the new puppy.
And now I tag:
KLnyc
runsanibel
KellyBirnham
Goddess
shadyezz
muminkuitulus
robber/Tony
doodlesNpoodles
For those that may have believed I was giving up photography, I'm not. This was taken a few days ago. The constant wind had made macros a bit harder.
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Prints Available: Contact Me www.paulmarcellini.com/PaulMarcellini.com/About.html
As some of you know, my Canon SX50 that I've been using since 2015 pretty much quit on me yesterday. If you like a camera that will only shoot with aperture priority (Av), then it's fine. I hate it. So, do I use my wife SX50 and get strangled with a 12 inch neck strap (she's only 4'1l") or go back to my Canon SX40 that I've had since 2010. I wasn't apprehensive. I took thousands of pictures and was satisfied. But there is shutter lag between shots over the 50, and of course, I'd lose about 20% of the zoom.
So, I went to the dragonfly lagoon as I call it with the SX40, and here's one of the first images I took. It's completely shaded IN the lagoon, so I'd say the camera and I compensated well. There is only a minor crop without any other modifications (my software doesn't allow for many). You may notice a dark shadow across the left front wing. That is a piece of grass that blew just as I shot. The winds were blowing at 30 mph, and the dragonflies were having trouble holding on.
(I also saw "my" Red-shouldered hawk today. I heard him first. Never have heard him so vocal. I don't think I'll post the images. Too many shadows on the face, and branches from the old oak, and a bit too far away - 100 feet at least - and I have better that I've posted years ago.)